Software Engineering After University: What Employers Expect from Junior Developers

A working project is a useful start when applying for a software engineering job. Employers in these conversations also wanted to see whether you could understand the problem, explain your choices, work with other people and keep learning. The first job involves more than writing code that passes a university assignment.

We reviewed seven CareerFairy Live Streams, including Optiver, Revolut’s early-career opportunities, its design patterns discussion, Delivery Hero’s tech careers session and two UBS conversations. Delivery Hero’s finance and legal recording adds business context; it is not treated as a developer hiring specification. The listed KfW recording had no available transcript.

The quick answer: bring relevant technical foundations, projects you can explain, a practical approach to solving problems and evidence that you can learn and collaborate. Do not assume every junior vacancy is designed for someone fresh from university. Compare graduate programmes, internships and direct-entry roles by their actual requirements.

What does a junior software engineer need to know?

You need enough relevant knowledge to contribute and learn within the role. These employers did not describe a universal checklist of languages or expect every graduate to know every technology.

Optiver’s January 2026 conversation stressed computer science foundations, problem-solving, design, testing and writing maintainable, robust software. The speakers connected engineering with understanding a problem and working through it critically.

Revolut’s October 2025 session made technical requirements role-specific. Its speaker gave Java engineering as an example where Java knowledge mattered. Other roles required different skills, so a long list of unrelated languages would not replace the requirements of the position you choose.

UBS’s April 2026 Group Functions teams said they would ideally find candidates with both relevant technical knowledge and understanding of the business. They acknowledged that this combination was difficult to find in a new graduate. Their emphasis was a solid foundation, curiosity and proactive learning that the team could build on.

The useful conclusion is to match your foundations to a role. If you apply to a backend position, explain relevant work in that area. If your strongest evidence is in data or infrastructure, investigate positions that use it. Breadth is helpful when it supports the task; it is less helpful when it obscures what you can actually do.

Why do employers care about how you solve a problem?

Because a technically polished solution is of limited use if it solves the wrong problem. Optiver’s speakers explicitly recommended understanding the problem before rushing to implement something.

They described technical interviews as close to collaborative problem-solving at work. Candidates were encouraged to work with the interviewer, ask questions and explain reasonable constraints that made a solution simpler.

UBS gave similar advice in its Group Functions discussion: do not arrive only to answer questions. Engage with the problem, propose ideas and ask about what you do not understand. The interview problem could resemble something the team dealt with in practice.

Revolut’s early-career speaker also emphasised problem-solving and being clear and data-driven. The company’s growth was used to explain why it valued people who could deal with problems, rather than only follow a familiar process.

Our practical synthesis is to make your reasoning visible. Clarify what the user or system needs, state your assumptions, propose an approach and check whether it works. If new information changes your approach, explain why. That gives an interviewer more evidence than silent coding followed by a final answer.

What makes a student coding project useful in an application?

A useful project lets you discuss a real problem and your contribution. It can come from university, a personal project or another setting; it does not have to come from paid work.

Revolut’s October 2025 speakers explicitly recognised projects outside employment as evidence of skills. Its June 2025 design patterns session also mentioned coding portfolios and open-source contributions among the examples relevant to engineering applicants.

Delivery Hero added a particularly useful example in March 2026. A speaker described studying job descriptions for patterns, reading engineering blogs and listening to people working on interesting problems. That research shaped a portfolio around similar kinds of problems and gave the speaker concrete material for interviews.

The lesson is not to imitate a company’s entire system. It is to understand the kinds of challenges a team faces and build an appropriately scoped example you can explain. You should be able to describe the goal, decisions, limitations and what you learned.

For example, if you built a small application, prepare to explain what happened when inputs were wrong, why you organised the code in a certain way and what you would improve. This is our suggested way to apply the employers’ emphasis on testing, maintainability and problem-solving, not a required portfolio format.

Avoid presenting a group project as entirely your own. Separate your contribution from the team’s result. That makes the project easier to discuss honestly when someone asks a detailed follow-up question.

Do junior developers need design patterns and testing experience?

These subjects appeared as part of understanding how software behaves and changes. The recordings support learning their purpose, rather than memorising terminology to repeat in an interview.

Revolut’s design patterns session worked through examples involving responsibility, interfaces, coupling and testability. One example discussed a payment service tied closely to a particular logger, making a change harder. Another highlighted the risks of changing existing logic in a fintech setting.

For a student, the useful question is what happens when you need to change your project. Can you test a component? Can you replace a dependency? Does one feature require modifying unrelated parts? You do not need to claim that a small project matches a production payment system to discuss these choices.

Optiver similarly included design and testing within its engineering discussion and stressed code that could be maintained. Together, these conversations point towards showing that you think beyond the first successful run.

Pick one decision from your project and explain the trade-off. A simpler approach may be appropriate for a small problem; a more structured one may help when requirements change. The explanation matters more than attaching the most advanced label to the code.

What do software engineering interviews actually involve?

Processes vary by employer and role. Prepare for the process described in your current invitation, using the recordings as examples rather than a fixed recipe.

Revolut’s October 2025 session outlined a test, recruiter conversation, a skills stage and a team-fit discussion. The skills stage could involve a technical interview, task or problem-solving exercise depending on the role. Its June session specifically discussed live coding for software engineering and data roles.

Optiver described technical interviews with a collaborative emphasis. Its Career Kickstarter was a five-day learning programme, not a promise that someone could become a fully prepared professional engineer in five days. The May 2026 dates mentioned in the January recording have passed.

UBS’s May 2025 Group Technology discussion described online assessment, a recorded video interview and business interviews. Its April 2026 conversation again covered assessment and interview stages, including the need to discuss your skills and motivation.

The formats differ, but you can prepare common material: a project walkthrough, examples of learning and teamwork, your reasons for the team and a clear approach to an unfamiliar problem. For broader preparation, see how to prepare for a job interview.

How should you practise for a coding interview?

Build consistency and practise explaining your approach. One Delivery Hero speaker described doing a coding problem each day as more effective for their confidence than cramming before the interview. That is an individual example, not a mandatory daily schedule.

Optiver suggested coding practice, hackathons and group coding challenges. The group element fits its emphasis on solving problems with other people. Practising alone can improve implementation; practising with someone can reveal where your explanation becomes unclear.

Try a small problem with a friend. Restate it, ask clarifying questions and explain what you intend to do before writing code. Afterwards, discuss what you tested and where the solution could fail. Keep the exercise focused enough that you can finish and review it.

If you get stuck, practise describing what you know and what you would investigate next. The UBS and Optiver discussions support engaging with the interviewer instead of treating every question as a demand for instant certainty.

What happens after you join a tech team?

The learning continues, and the support differs between employers and entry routes. Ask about it explicitly.

Optiver’s speaker described an academy before joining a team and then starting with smaller projects before taking on bigger ones. That example shows structured development alongside gradually increasing responsibility.

Delivery Hero’s March 2026 speakers described learning new technology while completing work. A backend engineer also discussed projects involving Android and iOS engineers, analysts and product managers. Communicating requirements and questions across those roles was part of the job.

UBS’s Group Technology conversation included graduates learning from more experienced colleagues and speakers who had entered technology through different academic routes. They did not expect a new graduate to arrive knowing everything.

Our synthesis is to look for evidence of support: who reviews your work, where you can ask questions, how your first projects are chosen and how you learn the business. A job title alone does not answer those questions.

Are junior roles always suitable for new graduates?

No. Revolut’s June 2025 discussion noted that externally recruited junior engineering roles could still involve several years of experience. Its speakers distinguished those roles from graduate and mentorship routes.

That is an important limitation on searches for junior software engineer. A vacancy can use junior comparatively within the company while expecting prior professional work. Do not infer eligibility from the title alone.

Look at internships and dedicated graduate programmes as well as direct-entry listings. Compare their requirements with your experience, and use our guide to internships, trainee programmes and direct entry to assess the differences.

Grades also appeared in Revolut’s early-career discussion. The expectations described there were part of that programme at the time, not an industry-wide rule. Check the current listing, and avoid assuming that projects remove every academic requirement.

What should you do before applying for your first developer role?

Use this sequence, based on the employer discussions, to make your preparation more specific.

Compare a few relevant vacancies and identify the technical foundations they repeatedly ask for.
Choose one project that demonstrates those foundations and clarify your own contribution.
Prepare to discuss the problem, design decisions, tests, limitations and learning.
Practise explaining an unfamiliar problem with another person.
Ask the employer about the interview format, first projects and support for junior colleagues.

You do not need a perfect project. You need credible evidence of what you can do now and how you will improve with experience.

Frequently asked questions about junior software engineering

Can I apply without a previous software engineering job?

Yes, where the entry route permits it. Revolut recognised university and personal projects as skill evidence, and the recordings described internships and graduate programmes. Check each vacancy’s experience requirements.

Do employers expect graduates to know their whole technology stack?

The UBS speakers recognised that finding full technical and business knowledge in a graduate was difficult. They stressed foundations and learning. Specific required technologies still matter, as Revolut’s role-based examples showed.

Is a coding portfolio enough to get hired?

It can support your application, but it does not replace the rest of the assessment. Employers also discussed problem-solving, communication, motivation and programme requirements.

Should I ask questions during a technical interview?

Yes. Optiver and UBS encouraged clarifying the problem and engaging with the interviewer. Ask questions that help you understand constraints and make decisions.

Will I only write code in my first job?

The examples included testing, design, learning, discussing requirements and working with other functions. Delivery Hero’s engineer described collaboration across engineering, data and product teams.

Want to hear how a team supports new developers? Explore CareerFairy Live Streams and ask engineers about their first projects, interview expectations and learning on the job.